# 帰る
## Japanese

* Kanji in this term
* 帰
* かえ Grade: 2
* kun'yomi
* Alternative spellings
* 歸る (kyūjitai) 還る

### Etymology

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *kapiaru.
Cognate with 返る (kaeru, “to return”), by extension of returning to one's home.
Compare 帰す (kaesu, “to send someone home”, transitive).

### Pronunciation

* (Tokyo) かえる [káꜜèrù] (Atamadaka –)
* IPA: [ka̠e̞ɾɯ̟]
* Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「帰る」
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary :
| Stem forms ||||
| Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形) | 帰る | かえる | [káꜜèrù] |
| Imperative (命令形) | 帰れ | かえれ | [káꜜèrè] |
| Key constructions ||||
| Passive | 帰られる | かえられる | [kàéráréꜜrù] |
| Causative | 帰らせる | かえらせる | [kàéráséꜜrù] |
| Potential | 帰れる | かえれる | [kàéréꜜrù] |
| Volitional | 帰ろう | かえろー | [kàéróꜜò] |
| Negative | 帰らない | かえらない | [kàéráꜜnàì] |
| Negative perfective | 帰らなかった | かえらなかった | [kàéráꜜnàkàttà] |
| Formal | 帰ります | かえります | [kàérímáꜜsù] |
| Perfective | 帰った | かえった | [káꜜèttà] |
| Conjunctive | 帰って | かえって | [káꜜèttè] |
| Hypothetical conditional | 帰れば | かえれば | [káꜜèrèbà] |

### Verb

帰(かえ)る • (kaeru) intransitive godan (stem 帰(かえ)り (kaeri), past 帰(かえ)った (kaetta))
Japanese verb pair :
| active | 帰(かえ)す |
| mediopassive | 帰(かえ)る |
* to go home, return
** 1987 March 20 [1987 February 20], Fujiko Fujio, “じじぬき [No Longer Old Man]”, in カンビュセスの籤(くじ) [Cambyses’s Drawing] (藤子不二雄 ＳＦ全短編; 1), 2nd edition, volume 1 (fiction), Tokyo: Chuokoronsha, →ISBN, 第三章, page 814:
    かわいい子(こ)よ　孫(まご)よ　おじいちゃんは今(いま)帰(かえ)るぞーっ！
       Kawaī ko yo mago yo O-jī-chan wa ima kaeru zō'!
       My dear children and grandchildren, I’m coming home!
** 1992, Yoshiyuki Tomino, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, episode 9, spoken by Anavel Gato (Akio Otsuka):
    ソロモンよ！私(わたし)は帰(かえ)ってきた！
       Soromon yo ! Watashiha kaette kita !
       O Solomon! I have returned!
* to leave, walk away
* (baseball) to get to home plate

#### Conjugation

Katsuyōkei ("stem forms") :
| Mizenkei ("imperfective") | 帰ら | かえら | kaera |
| Ren’yōkei ("continuative") | 帰り | かえり | kaeri |
| Shūshikei ("terminal") | 帰る | かえる | kaeru |
| Rentaikei ("attributive") | 帰る | かえる | kaeru |
| Kateikei ("hypothetical") | 帰れ | かえれ | kaere |
| Meireikei ("imperative") | 帰れ | かえれ | kaere |
| Key constructions ||||
| Passive | 帰られる | かえられる | kaerareru |
| Causative | 帰らせる 帰らす | かえらせる かえらす | kaeraseru kaerasu |
| Potential | 帰れる | かえれる | kaereru |
| Volitional | 帰ろう | かえろう | kaerō |
| Negative | 帰らない | かえらない | kaeranai |
| Negative continuative | 帰らず | かえらず | kaerazu |
| Formal | 帰ります | かえります | kaerimasu |
| Perfective | 帰った | かえった | kaetta |
| Conjunctive | 帰って | かえって | kaette |
| Hypothetical conditional | 帰れば | かえれば | kaereba |
Stem forms :
| Irrealis (未然形) | 帰ら | かへら | kafera |
| Continuative (連用形) | 帰り | かへり | kaferi |
| Terminal (終止形) | 帰る | かへる | kaferu |
| Attributive (連体形) | 帰る | かへる | kaferu |
| Realis (已然形) | 帰れ | かへれ | kafere |
| Imperative (命令形) | 帰れ | かへれ | kafere |
| Key constructions ||||
| Negative | 帰らず | かへらず | kaferazu |
| Contrasting conjunction | 帰れど | かへれど | kaferedo |
| Causal conjunction | 帰れば | かへれば | kafereba |
| Conditional conjunction | 帰らば | かへらば | kaferaba |
| Past tense (firsthand knowledge) | 帰りき | かへりき | kaferiki |
| Past tense (secondhand knowledge) | 帰りけり | かへりけり | kaferikeri |
| Perfect tense (conscious action) | 帰りつ | かへりつ | kaferitu |
| Perfect tense (natural event) | 帰りぬ | かへりぬ | kaferinu |
| Perfect-continuative tense | 帰れり 帰りたり | かへれり かへりたり | kafereri kaferitari |
| Volitional | 帰らむ | かへらむ | kaferamu |

#### Derived terms

* 帰(かえ)り (kaeri)
* 帰(かえ)りなんいざ (kaerinan iza)
* 帰(かえ)るさ (kaeru sa)
* 帰(かえ)るさま (kaeru sama)
* 帰(かえ)る朝(あした) (kaeru ashita)
* 帰(かえ)る雁(かり) (kaeru kari)
* 神(かみ)帰(かえり)月(づき), 神(かみ)帰(かえ)り月(づき) (kamikaeri-zuki)
* 立(たち)帰(かえ)る, 立(た)ち帰(かえ)る (tachikaeru)
* 燕(つばめ)帰(かえ)る (tsubame kaeru)
* 鳥(とり)帰(かえ)る (tori kaeru)
* 逃(にげ)帰(かえ)る, 逃(に)げ帰(かえ)る (nigekaeru)
* 持(もち)帰(かえ)る, 持(も)ち帰(かえ)る (mochikaeru)
* 行(ゆ)き帰(かえ)る (yukikaeru), 行(ゆ)き帰(がえ)る (yukigaeru)
* 行(ゆ)くも帰(かえ)るもの関(せき) (Yuku-mo Kaeru-mo no Seki)
* 蘇(よみがえ)る, 甦(よみがえ)る (yomigaeru, “to reincarnate”)

#### Idioms

* 帰(かえ)らぬ旅(たび) (kaeranu tabi, “never-returning journey” → “dying”)
* 帰(かえ)らぬ人(ひと) (kaeranu hito, “person that never returns” → “a dead person”)
* 帰(かえ)らぬ路(みち) (kaeranu michi, “never-returning road” → “dying”)
* 帰(かえ)らぬ昔(むかし) (kaeranu mukashi, “never-returning past” → “unrepeatable past”)

#### Proverbs

* 宝(たから)の山(やま)に入(い)りながら手(て)を空(むな)しくして帰(かえ)る (takara no yama ni irinagara te o munashikushite kaeru, “returning to a mountain of treasure in vain” → “missed opportunity”)
* 錦(きん)衣(い)を着(き)て故(こ)郷(きょう)に帰(かえ)る (kin'i o kite kokyō ni kaeru, “wearing a brocade and going home” → “promoted and going home”)
* 行(ゆ)きは良(よ)い良(よ)い帰(かえ)りは恐(こわ)い (yuki wa yoiyoi kaeri wa kowai, “going is easy but returning is hard or scary” → “no guarantees returning”)
* 行(ゆ)き大(だい)名(みょう)の帰(かえ)り乞(こ)食(じき) (yuki daimyō no kaeri kojiki, “go as a daimyo, return as a beggar” → “fruitless waste”)
* 落(らっ)花(か)枝(えだ)に帰(かえ)らず (rakka eda ni kaerazu, “a branch of fallen flowers never return” → “a parted husband and wife do not return”)
* 落(らっ)花(か)枝(えだ)に帰(かえ)らず破(は)鏡(きょう)再(ふたた)び照(て)らさず (rakka eda ni kaerazu hakyō futatabi terasazu, “a branch of fallen flowers never return, a broken mirror does not shine again” → “a parted husband and wife do not return”)

#### See also

* 戻(もど)る (modoru, “to turn back, return”)

### References

* 1 2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* ↑ Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
* ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN